The Writing Fellows Program was established in 1982 to help integrate the study of writing into courses throughout the university. Writing Fellows are undergraduate-trained peer tutors who partner with faculty across disciplines to provide students with written and verbal feedback, advice, and encouragement on their writing in progress.

Coming from all academic disciplines, Writing Fellows learn inclusive, equitable, and anti-racist approaches to peer tutoring. Fellows are not content experts or arbiters of “good writing,” and their purpose is not to ensure better grades on papers. Instead, Writing Fellows encourage students to see writing and learning as dynamic, collaborative processes that acknowledge writers’ diverse backgrounds, learning experiences, and writing goals.

The Program's Writing Fellows currently support courses across STEM, Social Sciences, and Humanities disciplines each academic year. In a ‘fellowed’ course, students submit the first draft of at least two assignments to their Writing Fellow before it is due to the instructor. Writing Fellows comment on students' written drafts and hold individual conferences with students, where they discuss revision strategies. Faculty who partner with the program also receive support from Senior Associate Director of Writing and English Language Support Dr. Jenna Morton-Aiken on how to integrate draft writing into their course designs.

The Writing Fellows Program provides an important element of support for Brown's requirement that all its graduates achieve competence in writing. The program’s interactive, collegial approach reinforces the conviction that writing is a communicative process best accomplished in active dialogue with other people.

Applications to have Writing Fellows in your class occur in late Fall and late Spring. Announcements are made via Today@Brown, Sheridan Newsletter, departmental newsletters, and other networks. During the application process, faculty must provide a draft of a syllabus with an estimated number of assignments and total page numbers, plus a sense of your course’s writing goals and objectives. Faculty are notified of their acceptance to the program via email several weeks before the semester begins.

Yes! We are certainly open courses without a WRIT designation in the Registrar’s course listings. In particular, we look for classes that have writing assignments with clear objectives and goals, a sense of how fellows will be effectively integrated into your class, and a commitment to promoting equitable and inclusive approaches to learning. 

Faculty Partner applications to the Writing Fellows Program are evaluated by the Sheridan Advisory Board, per the following rubric, to ensure the review process remains as equitable as possible. 

All Writing Fellows are required to successfully complete ENGL1190M, “The Teaching and Practice of Writing” to serve as a peer tutor. 

The semester-long training course is an introduction to writing theory and pedagogy, best practices to support revision habits for experienced and inexperienced writers, and effective methods for responding to writing in synchronous and asynchronous formats. The following course immerses students in all the ins and outs of writing and peer tutoring across various disciplines—from STEM, social sciences, and humanities—to ensure all fellows can diligently and efficiently support your class’s writing needs.

The number of fellows assigned to your class is dependent on fellow availability and class needs (e.g., assignment page numbers, number of assignments, course enrollment, etc.) to ensure that everyone’s workload remains as equitable and balanced as possible across the board. While the number of fellows assigned to a class depends on your course size and number of assignments, the fellowing group—or the group of Writing Fellows assigned to your class—typically works with the same number of students over the course of the semester to deliver feedback on writing assignments and drafts. 

Writing Fellows always work on 2–3 writing assignments over the course of a semester, which can include essay drafts, reports, write-in exams, group projects, and more—as long as it is writing-focused! As peer-focused tutors, Writing Fellows will provide feedback and conference with students (or “fellowees”) to deliver feedback on their writing before students officially submit their drafts to their professor. 

In addition, a Head Fellow will serve as a liaison between the faculty and the fellowing group to ensure that course goals and objectives are consistently met and that students are meeting with their fellow during your specified class deadlines.

We base Writing Fellows assignments on course size/enrollment number, number of assignments, and total page number of assignments, to ensure that all fellows across different classes and disciplines manage an equitable workload. Given this, the number of fellows assigned to a course can drastically vary, so it is entirely dependent on your course needs.

No, fellows do not attend your course. They are not enrolled in your class, nor are they teaching assistants. A Head Fellow, who is the Writing Fellow that will act as a liaison between faculty and the group of fellows assigned to your course, will communicate any pertinent information about the class, timelines, and assignment needs to the fellowing group.

After receiving information about relevant assignments, timeframes, and more, the Writing Fellow will be in touch with your students to review their writing and meet for brief conferences based on the timelines specified by faculty.

Before the semester begins, especially if you are new to the program, we recommend meeting with the Sheridan Center’s Senior Associate Director of the Writing and English Language Support Hub, Dr. Jenna Morton-Aiken (jenna_morton-aiken@brown.edu). She is an invaluable resource who can assist with how to most effectively integrate Writing Fellows into your course.

Upon your confirmation of joining the Writing Fellows Program for the semester, a Head Fellow will contact you via email to set up a meeting either shortly before the semester begins or during Week 1 at the start of the semester. Head Fellows liaise between the fellowing group and the faculty, ensuring all class expectations and needs are met during the semester.

During the meeting, your Head Fellow will likely discuss (though it is certainly not limited to) class expectations, enrollment roster, syllabus, submission dates, and more. The Head Fellow will communicate relevant information to assigned fellows in the course. 

During this meeting, the faculty and Head Fellow must establish when students will submit specific assignments to their fellows for review. This is separate from pre-established assignment deadlines in the class, and dates must be formalized so your students know when to submit any writing to their fellow for review. 

Once the fellow receives the students’ work, they prepare feedback and reach out to schedule a time to meet for brief peer conferences to discuss their writing. The process of 1) students writing their drafts, 2) fellows offering direct feedback on students’ work, 3) fellows returning their feedback to students and scheduling a time to meet with that student for a brief conference, and 4) meeting with the student, often occurs over ~1–2 weeks.

As a hypothetical example of what a fellowing schedule might look like (again, dates are flexible depending on the class and needs):

• Students must submit assignments to fellows by the 15th.
• Fellows will review students’ assignments by the 19th.
• Fellows will return feedback by the 22nd and then meet directly with students to discuss feedback no later than the 25th.
• Students will submit their work or complete this review period by the 27th, whereas students’ will submit their assignments on the 30th to their professors, therefore completing a fellowing review cycle. 

Again, there is flexibility regarding scheduling, but note that the review period typically occurs over a ~1–2-week period for up to 2–3 assignments of your choosing. Again, the Head Fellow will propose these dates and finalize them with the faculty during your first meeting.

You may either request fellows review students’ work first, leave time for them to conduct revisions, or even you may review students’ essays first and then have fellows provide additional feedback afterward. It is entirely dependent on the course assignments, expectations, and how you think fellows will most efficiently work in your class..

To ensure equity and a balanced workload for all fellows in the Writing Fellows Program, we request that fellows review at minimum two and no more than three assignments in your class. 

That said, you can make a fellow review period an optional resource for students as long as they still review at least two assignments. (For example, fellows might review two assignments, whereas the third remains optional.) 

We ask if any fellowing review period is made optional for students that the Writing Fellows Program is made aware upon acceptance to the program. If you would like fellows to review more than three assignments, consult directly with your Head Fellow or Program Manager at writingfellows@brown.edu. 

Unfortunately, no, since Writing Fellows are not Teaching Assistants. They are trained peer tutors who meet with students 2–3 times over the course of a semester to review students’ writing and deliver feedback. They do not grade students’ work.

Yes! The Writing Fellows Program has students with writing, reading comprehension, and speaking skills across various languages. 

If you are teaching a course in a language other than English, you are encouraged to reach out to writingfellows@brown.edu to confirm we have enough tutors to support your course’s language needs.

While Writing Fellows can alert faculty to potential AI use, they are not responsible for detecting any generative AI usage in assignments. 

No, Writing Fellows do not work with graduate students or graduate classes. For additional writing support for graduate students, we recommend consulting Dr. Charles Carroll (charles_carroll@brown.edu) for resources.

• Ensure any assignments for fellows’ review are not during finals week. If your assignment is during Reading Period, confirm with your Head Fellow to confirm this is acceptable.
• If review windows for fellows are narrow (that is, less than ~1.5 weeks), openly communicate expectations with your Head Fellow to ensure it is a doable time frame. 
• The number of fellows assigned to a class is entirely subjective, depending on fellow availability and the number of pages assigned to a class. Clarify any drastic shifts or page requirements in your original application to ensure everyone’s workload remains equitable.